Graduate Creative Developer
Location: GB, CMD, London
Department: Technology
Salary range: 19000-19000
Employment type: Full-time
Required experience: Entry level
Required education: Bachelor's Degree
Industry: Marketing and Advertising
Function: Engineering

Company profile:
The Technical Team and offering at VML London has a very strong heritage dating back to the mid-nineties when the London office was founded. Back in those days we were one of the first few purely digital marketing agencies in London; and back then things were a lot more technically driven than they often are today; as such the Technology team here continues to enjoy a strong strategic influence on the work that the agency undertakes and the clients that we engage.It just works.Technology is brilliant when you don’t have to think about it. That’s what we strive for in our solutions. Our technology team has a strong strategic influence on the work we undertake and are involved as soon as the brief lands. They stay involved throughout strategy, creative concepting and design. Acting as important enablers, we bring new and emerging technology to the table to successfully marry the requirements of our clients with the vision of our creatives.Open standards, open minds.We aim to deliver the most elegant technical solution for your budget, and maintain a technology agnostic approach to development in order to achieve that. Technology can be expensive, both in terms of hard costs and costly mistakes, so we’re as careful with your money as we are with our own.   Perhaps that’s why some of our clients have been with us for over 10 years. When faced with a new problem our first instinct is always to see if someone else has already solved it. As such, the solutions we design are built on the rich eco-system of open source software (OSS); the proven and battle-tested kind that we know will not just do the job quickly and cost-effectively, but also robustly. Where OSS isn't appropriate we always favour solutions that are built to open standards that we know will integrate well with other technologies.Strong partnerships.Our work is complemented by strong partnerships with technology vendors and suppliers.   Proven over time, our established strategic relationships with many of the leaders in software, hardware and other technology solutions help ensure we’re able to continue to offer best-in-class technical solutions for our clients.What we do:High availability and high performance website architecture &amp; developmentWeb content management solutionsCreative technology ideationContent optimisation, search and analyticsHigh volume, multi-locale email campaignsMobile optimisationLocalisation

Job description:
Role summary:As Graduate Creative Developer you will be able to produce rich email newsletters that are compatible across desktop and mobile devices, the ability to ‘slice’ Photoshop PSD files into HTML/CSS and image assets, and have a keen interest in keeping up with the latest interactive web user interface tricks using HTML5 and CSS3 technology. Designing cutting edge user experiences requires a multi disciplinary approach, with technologists working with creative design and user experience designers to stretch the envelope of what is possible with the latest web browser technology, while creating workable concepts appropriate to the scope of the audience, time and budget available. The increasingly complex web applications, mobile sites and applications, and digital experiences we build require novel and engaging user interfaces, and the Graduate Creative Developer will work closely with our Creative team helping to prototype novel approaches to rich email newsletters and campaign microsites for brands in the automotive, video game and travel industries.

Requirements:
Required Knowledge and skills:Mastery of production of HTML for email, and awareness of the quirks and pitfalls with various platforms.Mastery of CSS2 layout techniques and how to implement and troubleshoot these across different browsers including IE6Knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite, specifically PhotoshopAccessibility and Usability issues relating to site and email development.XML, and related technologies (e.g. XSL &amp; XML Schema)Excellent communication skills Useful extra knowledge and skills:Responsive design using media queriesWriting code compatible with mobile phone web browsersBuilding living user interfaces using CSS3 animation and transformsOne or more server side languages e.g. PHP, Python, Ruby, #URL_c5591c960537d84ff7889f414633cdbc8e7d36f3fe042a096d374e4e058388d5# (C#), JavaTest Driven DevelopmentFacebook app specific integrationsEmail newsletter cross-client compatibility issues Key responsibilities:Slicing Photoshop design files into HTML and CSSEnsuring compatibility with modern, legacy and mobile/tablet web browsers and email clientsBuilding interactive UI controls using JavaScript, jQuery and jQuery pluginsBuilding Rich Email messages for eCRM compatible with major email clients such as Outlook, Gmail and iPhone MailTake responsibility for technical delivery of small projects.  Take part in creative discussions and steer those discussions in the most technically appropriate direction, recommending best technical approachEnsure that the project is delivered to high standards of quality in all aspects including, but not limited to code, documentation and best practices Challenges of the roleCoping with multiple, sometimes overlapping work streamsBleeding edge technology changes requires a constant appetite for learning and improving Key relationships:Technical DirectorThe Graduate Creative Developer needs to communicate regularly with the Technical Director to report project progress, discuss changes and improvements to working practices and strategy for the technical team’s development.Creative DirectorThe Graduate Creative Developer will cross departmental lines to build relationships with the Creative Director and their design team to allow projects to take full advantage in rapid advances in the art of what’s possible with the web browsers of today and tomorrow.

Benefits: